Bigotry is not funny, but it is okay to laugh about bigots. Our sense of humor is the best bulwark against them.
Tag: culture
Earthquakes and Literature
We are sometimes reminded of one of the origins of Japanese culture when the ground starts shaking.
Micro-audiences
If you can find a passionate micro-audience and provide a quality product, you can cultivate your own market.
The Other Murakami
Rebecca Solnit's hate fest of "manly books" is misdirected and willfully ignorant.
The Dirty Secret of Japanese Sex
The best kept secret about Japanese sex is that there isn't any.
The Age of the Cyber Lynch Mob
We live in an age of global 24-hour lynch mob that punishes anything perceived offensive in the absence of critical investigation.
Yasuke, the Black Samurai
Did I mention that I was writing a samurai novel in English? One of the main characters in the novel is Yasuke, an African slave brought to Japan by European missionaries who granted the status of samurai by Lord Oda Nobunaga upon entering his service. He is the only recorded black samurai in history. In … Continue reading Yasuke, the Black Samurai
Remon
In Japanese, you can actually compliment a lady by telling her that she reminds you of "remons".
The Bechdel Test
Now known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, it is a test to measure the level of gender enlightenment in any given script or manuscript. It has three criteria. 1) The story must have at least two women in it who 2) talk to each other about 3) something other than men. Needless to say, most Hollywood … Continue reading The Bechdel Test
La Japonaise
Over dinner last night, my son told me a funny story. It was the story of the Monet exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. La Japonaise is a painting by Claude Monet of his wife Camille ‘in Japanese costume’ and a blonde wig. The Museum commissioned an authentic replica of the kimono that … Continue reading La Japonaise
Samurai Novelist 